Dry ice is the trademark for solid carbon dioxide. It is commonly used as a versatile cooling agent. It sublimes and changes directly to a gas at atmospheric pressure. It is the gas that we exhale during breathing and the gas that plants use in photosynthesis. It is particularly useful for freezing, and keeping things frozen because of its very cold temperature: -109.3°F or -78.5°C. Dry Ice changes directly from a solid to a gas -sublimation- in normal atmospheric conditions without going through a wet liquid stage. Therefore it gets the name "dry ice."


Manufacture
Dry ice is readily manufactured as : Carbon dioxide-rich gas is pressurized and refrigerated until it changes into its liquid form. The pressure is reduced. When this occurs some liquid carbon dioxide vaporizes, and this causes a rapid lowering of temperature of the remaining liquid carbon dioxide. The extreme cold makes the liquid solidify into a snow-like consistency. The snow-like solid carbon dioxide is compressed into either small shots or larger blocks of dry ice.

Applications

• Dry ice is used for making ice cream.
  
  
• It is widely used as it is simple to freeze and easy to handle using insulated gloves.
  
  
• In the construction industry it is used to loosen floor tiles by shrinking and cracking them.
  
  
• It is a useful freezing mixture for cold chemical reactions
  
  
• Dry ice is used as a source of carbon dioxide. It can be used to carbonate water and other liquids such as beer
  
  
• It can be used as bait to trap mosquitoes and other insects
  
  
• They are used in fog machines, theaters, halloween and nightclubs for dramatic effects.
  
  
• Its one of the application is " dry ice blasting ". It is one of the largest alternative for dry ice. Dry ice blasting can replace sandblasting, steam blasting, water blasting or solvent blasting.